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Mold Buyer’s Tip Guide
Table of Contents
Article Page
Why Minor Changes in a Part/Mold Design Could Result in Major Costs Increases…7
Typical Mold Materials: Which One is Right for the Mold You Require? …..…….…11
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When engineering comes to purchasing with a Some mold manufacturers specialize in very large-sized
requirement for a mold for a new plastic component or a molds such as those that would be used for bumpers on
group of components for a new product, many times the cars or trucks. Some specialize in very small molds for
purchasing person isn’t knowledgeable enough about micro-molding. Most fall somewhere in between, and
purchasing molds to know where to go for the can generally handle molds that fit up to a 500-ton
requirement. In some companies, project or product injection molding press. Mold manufacturers also have
engineers are in charge of finding a mold manufacturer, market niches with which they have become well-
but even then there are questions about what to look for acquainted with such as extremely high-cavity molds
in a mold supplier. (128 cavities for example) for the packaging industry; or
smaller cavitation molds for the medical industry; or
Many purchasing people will go online as a first step, very aesthetic molds for the cosmetics packaging
and there they will find a plethora of mold industry.
manufacturers. So how to pick the right one for the job?
Most mold shops have similar machine tool capabilities Mold manufacturers develop certain areas of expertise
and CAD/CAM software systems. Where the differences over their years in business, and generally are more
come into play are the mold types in which different successful when they stick to those areas of expertise.
shops specialize. Some of the types of molds include: While it’s not impossible that a moldmaker that has only
built smaller, 2, 4, 8 or 16-cavity molds could
• Insert Molds: molds which accommodate inserts successfully build a 96-cavity medical mold, it’s best to
(either robotically or manually inserted) which find a mold manufacturing company that has a track
the plastic is molded around to eliminate record in building the type of mold that the OEM
secondary or post-molding operations. requires to help ensure everyone’s success.
• Overmolding molds: molds which For example, a mold manufacturer might be good at
accommodate placement of a substrate part over large multi-cavity molds, but has never built an
which another material is molded, i.e. an ABS unscrewing mold for a cap application. There are mold
substrate with a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) manufacturers that specialize in building unscrewing
molds and have built hundreds over the years. The
opportunity for a successful build for a large, multi-
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It’s obvious that building a prototype mold or “bridge” Is this part moldable? If so, what type of molding process
tool is worth the extra cost up front on a project in which is optimum? Injection molding or thermoforming? Blow-
there are still many unanswered questions, and where molded or rotationally molded? Are there design issues
much collaboration will need to happen between the that would make this part more ideal for one process than
OEM’s engineers and the mold company’s engineers. another? Are there design issues that will increase the
It’s far more cost effective to get it right in a soft tool, cost of the mold? Can those design issues be resolved in
and then produce a multi-cavity hardened tool, if that’s some way to reduce the cost of the mold?
what’s needed, than to continually re-cut hardened
cores/cavities trying to get it right after the fact. Working from the outset with the moldmaker can save
you a lot of money and time going forward. Some OEMs
[For more information on Rapid Tooling methods see work directly with the molder and it is then the molder
April’s Injection Molding Magazine at that works with the moldmaker. Or in some cases, the
imm.plasticstoday.com/imm/articles/rapidtools0409] molder has in-house moldmaking capabilities which then
By: Clare Goldsberry put the entire project under one roof, which has benefits.
If however, the molder doesn’t have mold manufacturing
capabilities and must sub-contract the moldmaking that
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ makes the molder a “middle-man” in the project, which
often adds a layer of complexity to managing it.
Getting the Moldmaker Involved Innovation Mold & Design Inc., Germantown, WI ,
specializes in early involvement with the OEM. Dan
Early Fairbanks, President, says that his company begins with
part design assistance. “The OEM might have concept
A successful mold manufacturing program involves drawings, but maybe doesn’t know if that design is
strategic planning, and one of the most important aspects manufacturable from an injection molding standpoint,”
of that plan is getting the mold manufacturer involved in Fairbanks says.
the process early in the game. Most mold manufacturing
companies today are fully staffed with engineering Fairbanks always recommends that customers get an
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“Small changes to a part design can result in a long list Changes that require re-cutting steel or re-burning
of adverse effects on the mold design and the processing electrodes often mean major delays, and the moldmaker
of that part,” says Hans Noack, mold designer for Matrix is then put on hold until the new changes can be
Tooling Inc. (Wood Dale, IL) “Features that have been approved by the customer. When the customers drag
added, adjusted, or even eliminated may affect cooling their feet in approving part designs, mold designs, or
and ejection, which will then alter the cycle time.” changes to part or mold design, they risk delaying
delivery of the mold and increasing the price.
Missed dimensional numbers in file translations from
one type of CAD system to another, continue to plague Many years ago, when 16-20 week lead times were
moldmakers in spite of the many improvements that have common, shops had time to allow for changes. No one
been made by CAD software makers. If the mold was in a big hurry. In today’s fast time-to-market
company works in 3D, you can see a “virtual model” of demands from OEMs, and lead time averaging eight
the part before steel is cut, and that is a prime weeks or less for straight-forward, lower-cavitation
opportunity to make any changes that might be required. molds, changes may come too late in the game. High-
speed machining means that steel gets cut in a matter of
Engineering Change Orders (ECOs) can create problems. hours rather than days, as it used to be two decades ago.
Moldmaking industry standards generally dictate that So, OEMs need to keep that in mind when moving
when a customer calls with an ECO to the part design, forward on a new program.
the moldmaker tells the customer by phone personally or
by e-mail (which creates a paper trail), that the change In some cases, the molder or the OEM might change the
might affect the lead time and/or price of the mold. Both way it processes or handles the manufacturing process,
of these can be costly, depending on the changes made. and that might require an engineering change. Noack
also notes that OEMs need to consider how the part will
After a review by the mold designer of the change be used. “In some cases robotics and other automation
requested, the mold company can then make the will need to be adjusted in production to compensate for
necessary changes to the schedule and/or the price, and a design change.”
notify the OEM or the molding company of those
changes in writing. Everything should be in writing! Jim Ziegenhorn, Matrix Tooling’s CAM programmer,
Don’t leave anything to verbal instruction or provides an example of a picture frame part. “The design
information, because if it isn’t written down and will reflect all the cooling, ejection, strength and support
confirmed, it’s like it never happened. This practice issues. Then comes a request for a simple connecting
stems from customers who make major changes to a part span of plastic between the outside portions of the frame,
design that result in changes to the mold that in turn which seems simple enough at first, but you have to
result in additional costs and a longer lead time, yet consider that you may not be able to add adequate
expect to hold the mold manufacturer to the original ejection due to cooling lines being in the way,”
price and lead time. Change is just what it indicates: Ziegenhorn. “If you remove some of the cooling to add
CHANGE. In many cases nearly everything changes proper ejection then the cycle time will be affected. If the
when one thing changes. cooling becomes unevenly distributed, you could have
issues with part warpage. Support may also be affected
If an OEM begins to make a lot of changes, the due to the additional ejection which can have an adverse
moldmaker might be forced to put the project on hold effect on strength.”
until all the changes are worked through and finalized on
the part design before actually cutting steel. Once the Changes during the mold build or changes after the mold
mold manufacturer begins cutting steel, any changes to build to accommodate different processing parameters or
the part’s design can become more costly, depending on the use of automation, can often be costly. And, as
how far along the moldmaker has gotten in the build Ziegenhorn points out, it’s often a series of affects when
process. one, seemingly simple change is made. “Some of what
seems to be the most minor modifications can adversely
“Tool designs are always based on the final geometry of affect the whole process of the tool build and part
any given part. Prior to manufacturing, all designs are processing.”
usually be modified with relative ease,” explains Noack.
“Design changes after the manufacturing process require Thanks to Matrix Tooling Inc. (www.matrixtooling.com)
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Many AMBA member companies build complex, highly Some of the considerations that are critical to the choice
technical molds that provide long life, high productivity of mold material are:
and efficiency, and perform over the long term as
expected. And U.S. mold manufacturers offer support * Program life - Do you expect the program for the
after the sale, without the expense of shipping the molds particular components to last one year? Five years? or
across an ocean! longer? If you anticipate a long program life, then you
need a mold that will be extremely durable to provide the
However, if you have molds built in China that need most trouble-free molding operation.
engineering changes, rework, repair or rebuild -- as many
do once they hit U.S. shores, there are many AMBA * Plastic material - What type of material will be used to
member companies that specialize full time in these mold the parts? This also weighs heavily on the type of
projects for OEMs that buy molds from China. mold material you will choose. For example, if the resin
is abrasive, i.e. is a glass-filled material, metal-filled,
The cost of shipping, engineering time away from the etc., a softer mold material will mean greater wear on the
office to oversee mold builds in Asia that require cores and cavities, more maintenance and shorter life of
expensive air fares, hotel bills, and other expenses are the mold. Unfilled commodity-grade materials such as
drastically reduced or in some cases eliminated with polypropylene, low-density polyethylene, and even
building molds in the U.S. And, U.S. mold unfilled engineering-grade materials such as
manufacturers can, in most instances, come within 10% - polycarbonate or ABS, generally are okay for a softer
20% of the quoted prices on molds from China . Thus, grade of mold material.
there is no real benefit to building molds in China if
those molds are to be run in the USA . * Number of parts required - How many parts will you
require per month? per year? If that number is low –
Below is a link to an article for you to read that we think 100,000 parts or less annually – then you can probably
addresses this issue quite well, and hope you will find it get away with a softer mold material. However, if you
informative. If you want to understand your costs to require five million parts annually, you might want to
buying offshore vs. the US, please write to us and look at hardened tool steels to meet these requirements.
request, "Knowing the True Costs of Your Molds", a
brochure with a worksheet to help you determine There are a number of different types of mold materials.
whether or not it makes sense for you to build offshore. If
you decide that it doesn't make sense for you, go online A) Aluminum - This is becoming an increasingly popular
to www.amba.org, and look at our list of nearly 300 material for injection molds, primarily because many of
mold manufacturers. There is quality-oriented mold the grades of aluminum can provide a cost-effective
manufacturer near you, right in your own backyard. alternative to mold soft mold steels. In today’s
Then you can proudly say, "Made in the USA ." manufacturing world, many programs are seeing shorter
lifespans as products evolve to meet changing consumer
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D) S-7 - This is a versatile grade recommended for What Constitutes a Good, High-
applications demanding high degrees of toughness and
moderate wear resistance. Production Mold?
E) Stainless Steel - This steel is used for extremely high Building high production, high cavitation molds requires
part volumes and provides high polishability for molding a mold manufacturer whose expertise is in this arena.
aesthetically sensitive parts, particularly medical-grade While every mold the OEM builds needs to be a well-
components, and products for the cosmetics industry. built mold, made to specifications and able to make a
Bohler-Uddeholm provides a prehardened 400 series conforming part, building molds for high production
Stainless Steel that offers many benefits requires special diligence and careful choice of mold
(www.bucorp.com/files/MMT_Bohler_M303extra_featu manufacturer.
re_article.pdf).
Early involvement with the mold manufacturer is always
Some mold steel companies offer their own “brands” of key, and you need to crunch the numbers to make sure
these various mold materials, such as International Mold that the mold you buy is really the one you need. Often,
Steel. That company supplies a variety of mold materials OEMs will estimate a greater number of parts required
such as Porcerax II, a sintered porous metal with porosity than they actually need when they start production. It’s
in the range of 20-30% by volume. Using this in not uncommon for an OEM to ask a mold manufacturer
appropriate areas eliminates gas build-up, reduces to quote a mold that will make 500,000 parts per month,
injection pressure, lowers cycle times, gloss levels and only to find out that the product isn’t taking off as
substantially reduces scrap and reject rates, according to marketing anticipated or the ramp-up was slower to
the company. happen.
International Mold Steel also provides NAK 55 and a In estimating the number of parts high-production molds
NAK 80, both are 40 HRC pre-hardened to 38-42 HRC make, there is the actual part production in one hour vs.
and machine fast, don’t need stress relieving generally, part production in one hour at 85% efficiency. For a part
and are highly weldable. The company’s PX5 is a running at a five-second cycle in a 32-cavity mold, the
modified P-20. actual number of parts is 23,040. For that same part
running at 85% efficiency, you’ll get 19,584 parts per
As is typical when processing plastic parts – no matter hour. That translates to 171,555,840 parts in one year.
what the process, be it injection molding, [See Appendix B of this Tip Guide]
thermoforming, or blow molding – there are many
variables involved that impact the choice of mold Many high-cavitation molds can be seen running with
material. The best way to make an optimum selection is several cavities blocked off because those cavities were
to consult your mold manufacturer, who has excellent not making conforming parts. For molders, whether
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Conceived from start with high productivity and lowest cost Little if any thought has been given to the mold,
1. Concept & Design product in mind. Much time is spent on the mold concept except getting the shape of the product right, at the
before starting the actual design, or beginning to cut steel. lowest possible mold cost.
3. Servicing of hot In hot runner molds, access to the hot runner system for
runners minor servicing (changing heater bands or nozzle tips, etc.) is The mold must be removed from the machine for
possible right in the machine, without removing the mold. any service to the hot runners.
The strength of materials used in the mold is properly Cavities and cores are often not strong enough and
4. Strength of materials engineered. This applies typically to the strength of cavities expand or deflect when subjected to high injection
and cores to contain the high injection pressures and the size pressures. The mold plates are thin, just strong
of mold plates to support both cavities and cores. enough to hold the components in position.
Appendix A
What Characterizes a Good, High-production Mold?
The difference between a well-designed and solidly built mold, (A) planned to produce reliably good quality products at the lowest cost, and a low-cost
mold (B) intended for the same product, can usually be seen right from the start, by visually comparing the two molds, and becomes obvious after
operating the mold for a relatively short time. * (excerpted from "Selecting Injection Molds, By Herbert Rees and Bruce Catoen.)
Leader pins are often too short and too slender, just
Alignment feature (leader pins, tapers). Long, especially long enough to engage to LP bushings. They deflect
8. Mold Alignment unsupported leader pins are heavy to ensure minimum easily and do not guarantee proper alignment of the
deflection. They are long enough to protect the exposed mold halves. Tapers are usually too short, wear
cores from damage. Tapers for alignment are sized soon, and do not hold the cores aligned with the
proportional to the length of the core. cavities.
Tapers are matched without proper preload, and
therefore do not provide alignment. This can be
9. Tapers Alignment tapers are properly engineered, with specified easily seen just after a few days of operation when
amounts of preload, to ensure holding the matching parts in both matching surfaces are seen dirty or corroded.
alignment securely. Properly preloaded tapers are always shiny.
Appendix A
What Characterizes a Good, High-production Mold?
The difference between a well-designed and solidly built mold, (A) planned to produce reliably good quality products at the lowest cost, and a low-cost
mold (B) intended for the same product, can usually be seen right from the start, by visually comparing the two molds, and becomes obvious after
operating the mold for a relatively short time. * (excerpted from "Selecting Injection Molds, By Herbert Rees and Bruce Catoen.)
Mounting the mold to the machine is considered from the Usually, only mounting ledges are provided for the
12. Mold mounting
beginning and the most suitable mounting methods are use of rather unsafe mold clamps to hold the mold in
provided. position.
The mold is thoroughly tested at the mold maker, not just for
13. Testing of mold product sizes and fits but also for productivity of the mold, The mold is only tested to check the sizes of the
before delivery. products, and then shipped.
Appendix A
What Characterizes a Good, High-production Mold?
The difference between a well-designed and solidly built mold, (A) planned to produce reliably good quality products at the lowest cost, and a low-cost
mold (B) intended for the same product, can usually be seen right from the start, by visually comparing the two molds, and becomes obvious after
operating the mold for a relatively short time. * (excerpted from "Selecting Injection Molds, By Herbert Rees and Bruce Catoen.)
Appendix A
- Finding the Total Cost of Your Mold
U.S. MOLDMAKING SOURCE OFFSHORE MOLDMAKING SOURCE